


Don't Reset

by Cook1ez



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Frisk (Undertale), Multi, Rape/Non-con Elements, Reader is Frisk (Undertale), Spoilers, Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-10-18 06:30:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17575661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cook1ez/pseuds/Cook1ez
Summary: Frisk is struggling with having nearly completed a Genocide Route which they had no control over. As they try to apologize to everyone without telling them about the reset, Sans notices the look on Frisk face, then learns about the Genocide route and the Pacifist route they had already completed. They vow to stop Frisk from ever resetting again, and together they grow closer from spending every day together trying to fix things. (Chapters will be a minimum 3,000 words.)





	1. Prologue: Where It Began

**Author's Note:**

> I try to keep things relatively in character. I had considered mute Frisk, but decided against it after looking over the wiki's. Hope everyone enjoys. Currently don't have a Beta, please point out any capitalization errors. (As my computer and phone both try to capitalize what Sans says.)

Falling, the ground rapidly approached, you squeezed your eyes shut, and felt the impact. You laid there for what felt like forever before you eventually had feeling in your limbs again. You felt awful, as you opened your eyes and looked up at the hole in the cavern, that looked really high up. You groaned, wondering how these flowers had managed to break your fall enough that you’d survived. Slowly you sat up looking around the cavern, you stood and your limbs protested, this felt worse than death, little did you know, you would be well acquainted with the feeling of dying from this point in your life and forward.

The first time you’d woken up in the field you couldn’t remember anything from before the fall, like your life before didn’t exist, it was a haze and you couldn’t remember why you’d come here. The cave seemed to stretch into a hallways and meeting Flowey the first time seemed like he was friendly, until he nearly killed you. Thankfully another monster appeared, she called herself Toriel and called you her child, when you’d tried to leave the ruins you’d had to face her, and had refused, she’d taught you not to fight, and you wouldn’t fight her.

Though that had worked to get out of the Ruins, it hadn’t worked on everyone, you’d fought a few monsters out of frustration, feeling a little bad at first, then nauseous when you had realized you could save everyone. When you’d reached the end and defeated Asgore you were surprised to see that sinister flower again. But after a True Reset you found his advice to make friends with everyone had resulted in something even better. As you stood there watching the sky and had agreed to be the ambassador between species, you felt cold dread, you lived for a few months after that, making friends above ground, but something told you to go back, that you were missing something.

That Reset had been your worst sin, you weren’t sure what it was that gripped your hand tightly around that knife, what made you kill, what made you ignore pleas, or cries, or the way you felt after each death was on your hands. You felt sick and you wanted desperately to die, when you faced Undyne The Undying you thought maybe she could stop you, but you kept loading just before the fight, always she would block your attack taking the hit for Monster Kid, always she would start to turn to dust, but her DETERMINATION held her together, and you were so happy that she stood before you, you were so proud of her.

But that didn’t last forever, each time you got faster, you got more DETERMINED, more… ANGRY. You defeated her, and as you walked away from her dust, you felt the bitter sting in your chest as you knew no one else stood a chance, you felt like crying, or breaking down and laughing at it all, like the world was slipping through your fingers and you couldn’t get a grip.

Coming across Mettaton as a murderous robot, you prayed he would stand a chance, but one swing of your weapon and he fell. No dramatic show, no poses, simple and immediate death. Knowing everyone was evacuated you prayed none of his followers had been watching, especially Napstablook, he might not know they were cousins in this timeline, but he was still a fan of the show, you didn’t want to cause more pain even as your body moved forward to continue the massacre of everyone you loved.

Seeing the house that looked just like Toriel’s you wanted to reset so badly and just cry in her arms, never leaving the Ruins, if only you had listened the first time you had fallen underground, you could of been happy growing up with her in the Ruins. This timeline was by far the worse, your body moved grabbing a real knife, you felt disgust but it felt completed, and as you put the necklace on you moved down the hall, stopping in front of the mirror briefly, your eyes flashed red, but you kept moving, grabbing the keys and continuing to the end.

Flowey had returned in the house, talking to you smug and pleased, calling you “Chara” and saying how you both would easily kill each other if you ended up in each others ways. You’d gotten closer and closer to Flowey, a look in your eyes that made the flower flee from you, yelling for you to stay back. Genocide wasn’t in it’s veins like it was in yours. Weak willed flower couldn’t muster up the strength to kill everyone in both the underground and above ground, pathetic.

When you came upon the Judgement Hall, you realized Sans would be here, he would judge you, and instead of love, this time he would see that you were full of LOVE, he would see into your soul and he wouldn’t like what he saw. You reached the halfway point in the room, and there he was, standing before you, the grin on his face was more a grimace, you could feel the hatred coming off of him in waves. Every word he said bit into you, you wanted to reset, but your hand wouldn’t do it, you simply gripped the knife tighter, ready to fight.

Sans was a challenge, he was fast and he dodged, and when he had for the first time stopped and asked to be friends, your hands had started to shake, you wanted to, but you attacked anyway, and he seemed to mock you. You died, you died more times than you had been able to keep track, at first he had kept count, but being Sans he got lazy with it and told you to keep track after eleven deaths. The highest you had counted was at least thirty deaths before you couldn’t remember anymore, you weren’t certain but it could be over a hundred by now. He had killed you more than any other monster, but to be honest the only monster here was you. A few times you’d broken through and you had accepted his friendship only to be killed, even after the first time you’d done it again, and you’d increased in how often you tried to spare him, yet he still killed you each time, telling you not to come back.

You had lost count of how many tries it had been but after so many deaths, so many resets back into the hallway, you finally sliced him, knife shaking in your hand from exertion. As he walked away tears streamed down your face, and as you heard him turn to dust you thrust your hand forward with all of your willpower and reset the timeline, Chara wouldn’t win, you wouldn’t allow it.

When you awoke in a field of flowers you laid there, with your eyes shut still crying, refusing to get up for what felt like hours, at one point you felt eyes on you, but didn’t bother to look, simply wishing to die and never come back. But the universe wouldn’t allow that, so you slowly picked yourself up, and took a deep breath in filling yourself with DETERMINATION, this time, you would save everyone all over again, and you would apologize to Sans everyday, whether or not he remembered it, you would make it up to him and never reset again, you would leave the Underground with everyone and you would live a normal life with your family. This time everyone would be alive and happy.


	2. The Underground

When you stepped into the first part of the ruins, there wasn’t any sign of Flowey initially, he was probably uncertain if you were Chara or yourself and didn’t want to risk it. Toriel still showed up and was kind to you, the moment you saw her your eyes stung with more tears, she tried to console you thinking you were simply a scared and lost child, but you cried because you could still remember her last words echoing inside your head, the feeling of dust on your hands, it hurt so much, a pain that tugged at your very SOUL.

When you arrived at her house in the ruins you didn’t even attempt to ask about leaving, your hands trembling at the thought of having to face her, remembering the smell of burning flesh before there was nothing but dust. You knew you could pass without raising a fist but you couldn’t bring yourself to hurt her again, and leaving would hurt just as much as hitting her.

You knew you could open the barrier without anyone having to die, and you didn’t want everyone to be stuck in the underground forever. A memory of everyone’s faces as they first saw the sky, the way everyone had turned to you when asking how to interact with humans, getting to know everyone and letting them live their lives above ground, staying here would be selfish. You just needed a little time to steel yourself against what was to come, after three weeks of staying with Toriel in her home you took a deep breath and approached her, asking “How do I leave the ruins?”

Her response was tense and she offered to teach you fun facts about snails instead. You agreed to learn but knew you were putting off the inevitable. This time you said “I have friends waiting for me, I need to leave.” You knew she was upset, you knew exactly how this would go, but you needed to end this game.

You refused to fight her, and even refused to dodge, you felt it only right when you died, and came back in front of the house, she deserved revenge even if she wouldn’t remember it. As you stood outside the house you noticed a flower by the tree, you turned to see Flowey eyeing you from a distance, slowly you approached him and he glared at you menacingly.

Holding your hands up to show they were empty you spoke to him “Asriel, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not Chara anymore. I know you remember the reset…”

Flowey glared at you and practically hissed “Trying to pretend to be a good person? I know what you’re really like. Didn’t have it in you to finish what you started. Weak.”

You shook your head “I couldn’t stop myself, but when I finally had some control I reset. It was weak of me to not be able to stop myself before it got that bad.”

The flowers face morphed showing the different faces people made as you killed them, showing Toriel’s he asked in her voice “You think it’s fair if you let me kill you?” the flowers face turned back to normal along with his voice “I bet you think you can just have a clean slate now, as though you aren’t a murderer.”

Shaking your head you frowned “No, I won’t ever forget what I’ve done. I can never do enough to apologize. The least I can do though is anything they ask of me till the day I die and the world doesn’t reset. She wants me to stay, but I can’t free everyone if I do that. She would rather I die than leave, so I let her kill me. It’s only fair, even if she won’t remember doing so.”

Flowey grinned at you “What a weak sentiment. I bet you’ll get tired of playing a goody two shoes and be back to killing in no time. Golly, you sure are twisted.”

You straightened up and turned to head back inside calling back “I won’t, not ever again.”

Going back into the house you saw Toriel sitting by the fire reading happily, she looked up and smiled at you “Hello my child, did you have fun outside?”

You nodded and came to stand in front of her. She relaxed in her chair, and you felt bad knowing she would have to fight you again, so you leaned forward hugging her mumbling into her shoulder “Thank you for everything.”

She replied in confusion “You are welcome my child, but what are you thanking me for?”

You leaned back away from her and spoke gently “For taking care of me, and welcoming me into your home. But now I need to leave. How do I exit the ruins?”  
She stood quickly “I have something I must do.” then she strode from the room. 

Knowing what she was doing you followed her downstairs, fighting her again but this time you dodged her attacks, and spoke to her in between her attacks saying “You don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine out there.”

Eventually she broke down in tears, asking if she truly could not persuade you. Shaking your head she hugged you and asked you not to return. You hugged her tight and whispered “It’s going to be okay.”

Walking down the corridor to the exit of the ruins you saw Flowey sprout before you “So you didn’t kill anyone in the ruins, at least not this time. You must be so proud of yourself.”

You continued walking past the flower but mumbled “I’m not Chara, I won’t hurt anyone ever again. No matter what.”

Pushing the doors open you heard the flower chuckle as you stepped outside into the snow, the cold outside the ruin bit at your skin but you pressed onward. When you heard the snap of a tree branch behind you, you knew Sans would introduce himself soon. A soft sniffle escaped you, you refused to stop now, you had to get everyone out of the underground. A few stray tears stung your cheeks as you remembered the look on his face as you’d finally struck him, approaching the gate you heard footsteps and shivered in fear.

“Human. Don’t you know how to greet a friend?” The voice sounded the same as when you’d first come through, as though he didn’t know what had happened. The fact that you weren’t in an encounter right now was a good sign, or at least you were taking it as one. Slowly you turned around and saw him raise his hand, timidly you shook his hand, and heard the whoopie cushion.

You stood staring at him in silence, before clutching your sides laughing, you laughed so hard you fell back in the snow, tears coming to your eyes, it wasn’t that the prank was particularly funny, you simply couldn’t hold back the relief you felt that he hadn’t attacked you upon sight.

“hey kid, i know i’m hilarious but you might want to get a move on.” he explained to you how he and Papyrus were guards and that Papyrus would want to capture you. You stifled your laughter and followed him through the gate, then hid behind the lamp as Papyrus approached.

A new wave of sadness hit you as you saw Papyrus, he’d been one of your closest friends and yet… Not this time, you wouldn’t ever do that again, even now you knew he believed in you, and you wouldn’t betray that belief ever again. At that moment Papyrus left and you stepped out from behind the lamp.

Sans looked at you, and though he wore a grin it felt like he was judging you, calculating what your plans were. As your eyes met he watched you for a moment then said “That’s the face of… someone who’s seen me die.”

You nodded and took in a shaky breath, fidgeting as your fingers pulled at a loose string in your sweater, you cleared your throat to speak but you were interrupted as Sans spoke up first “don’t. i don’t want to hear about it.” he paused his eye pinpricks disappeared and he said “i just have one question, was it you?”

Again you raised your hands to try to explain, interrupted again as he nearly shouted “NO, i don’t want to be told some complicated backstory or justification, i want to know yes or no, did you kill me?”

You stared at him and shaking slightly as you nodded, as much as you’d like to say it was all Chara, your hand had been the one to grip that knife, it was your passiveness that had allowed it all to happen. In the end it was you, even if you reset afterwards, you still killed him in the end.

Sans was silent as he watched you, his eye lit up and he spoke just above a whisper “don’t touch my brother.” With that he disappeared, leaving you in the snow alone. A chill settled into your bones that had nothing to do with being outside.

You continued forward shakily knowing Sans knew what you were capable of, but you wouldn’t hurt anyone. As you approached the puzzles you noticed how Sans stared through you while Papyrus mentioned how you looked terrified of the puzzles. Papyrus seemed to contemplate for a moment before asking if he knew you. You paled at the question while Sans bantered with him about not knowing who he knew.

Eventually you reached Snowdin, Sans stopped you in front of the town saying “i’ve noticed you haven’t fought anyone… you haven’t even raised you fist once. what are you playing at?”

You frowned mumbling “I don’t want to hurt anyone… never again.”

He stared at you then asked “never again?”

Looking at his nervous expression you spoke up a little “I know how this all goes, I know I can save everyone, I’ll open the barrier… I won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

He sighed “looking at your face right now… i can tell you’re telling the truth. i don’t know exactly what you did kid, but don’t hurt my brother and we’ll be fine.”

You nodded and he walked away disappearing after a few steps. You walked into town and purchased a room at the inn hearing snoring from the room next door, normally that might have bothered you but you didn’t think you’d be able to sleep anyway. You laid down staring at the ceiling knowing that Papyrus was your next fight. You wanted to avoid that fight, an image of his outstretched arms flashed before your eyes and you sat up breathing quickly.

Not again, never again. You took a deep breath laying back down, you just wanted a little time to yourself before you had to confront Papyrus. You closed your eyes crying as you remembered the last things he’d said to you, and then the glare you’d received from Sans as he realized you’d killed him before the reset. Opening your eyes you saw the reset button before your eyes, you could make Sans forget what you’d said, maybe try not to wear your feelings on your face and move forward without anyone knowing.

You shook your head aggressively standing up and leaving the hotel room, you thanked the innkeeper and stepped out into the snow. Taking each step slowly, you spoke with each passerby, prolonging the inevitable. Passing by Sans and Papyrus’ house you stopped for a moment, silently praying that Papyrus was home instead of down the road waiting for you. Of course you weren’t that lucky. As you walked through the fog you saw him in the distance.

You dodged each attack and saw his special normal attack coming towards you, as the tallest bone approached you jumped as high as you could knowing you weren’t that great at jumping, but suddenly you felt the pressure around your SOUL lighten up as though lifting you. As you landed you looked around quickly seeing a flash of blue in the fog, uncertain of what caused you to be able to dodge the attack you simply turned back to Papyrus who looked starstruck.

Papyrus gaped at you saying “HUMAN THAT WAS INCREDIBLE, I DID NOT REALIZE HUMANS COULD JUMP SO HIGH.”

You smiled at him saying “It’s a miracle, normally I can’t jump that high.”

Papyrus grinned “A MIRACLE YOU SAY? WELL I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM IMPRESSED WITH THIS SO CALLED MIRACLE. I WILL ALLOW YOU TO BE MY FRIEND, HUMAN.”

He gushed over having made a friend and you simply nodded agreeing with him. After talking with him about puzzles and making spaghetti together at some point he headed home. You knew he’d report to Undyne later but for now you were safe. The fog cleared up and you continued to forward, the chill from the snow being replaced by the mist of Waterfall.

You saw the sentry station with Sans sitting at it, after speaking with MK about how excited he was about possibly seeing Undyne you approached Sans tentatively. Sans looked up at you and a moment of silence passed before he asked “wanna stop by grillby’s before you leave?”

Nodding you smiled saying “I’d like that.”

“follow me.” After a few steps in the wrong direction you briefly felt weightless as you suddenly blinked only to open your eyes in front of Grillby’s. You’d almost forgotten what teleporting felt like with how long it had been.

Sitting in Grillby’s you enjoyed the warmth and felt your clothes start to dry off from being stuck in the snow andthen mist. Sans offered to get you food and you accepted the burger, he offered you ketchup and knowing his response you grinned accepting it but didn’t poor it on your burger you steeled yourself knowing this wouldn’t be fun as you tilted your head back and took a swig from the bottle, cringing as you struggled to swallow the condiment.

Turning back to him told you it was worth it as he stared at you before breaking into laughter “buddy i didn’t think you liked it that much. i think i just shivered from my skull tomatoes. i’m struggling to ketchup my breath.”

You cleared your throat trying not to cough saying quietly “I dough what I can.”

He shook his head “i don’t think you have the crustifications to make that joke.”

You both joked for a while using different puns before the mood turned serious, as expected he asked if you knew about talking flowers, but he also asked “what’s your plan? you said you could open the barrier but that you weren’t going to hurt anyone?”

You ate a few fries then turned to him saying “It takes seven human souls, I’m the seventh, it takes one monster soul, I don’t have to kill anyone in order to use the souls already here.”

Sans nodded slowly then asked “what happened? what made you kill me and the timeline reset?”

You glanced around Grillby’s noticing the other patrons had left, only you two and Grillby himself remained. Grillby was cleaning the bar not paying attention to you two, so you turned to Sans and said “I didn’t want to.” shaking you wrapped your arms around yourself and explained to him how you had lived through a neutral route when you’d first fallen into the underground, then you told him how someone who remembers the timelines told you how you hadn’t had to kill anyone that if you tried harder you could save everyone, you started crying as you told him how you’d felt like something was missing as you and all your friends lived above ground, you’d reset only to end up unable to stop yourself from killing everyone.

The more you told him the more your chest ached, seeing the [RESET] button in the corner of your vision as you explained how you knew everyone and yet had still killed them all, explaining how Sans had killed you more than anyone else, more than even Undyne, how you’d hoped that you’d never win, that he’d be able to dodge you forever, even when you spared him and he’d strike you down, you’d hoped that you’d just stay dead only to arrive back in the hall facing him.

You squeezed your eyes shut unable to say anything else for a moment, you felt panicked and like it was hard to breathe, you whispered out “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” while you wiped at your tear with your hands.

Sans cleared his throat asking “how long did it take for us living above ground before you reset?”

Fighting the urge to throw up from crying yourself sick you replied “S-six months.”

He stood up and offered you a hand “i won’t forgive you after just meeting you, but if helping you means that everyone gets to live above ground and all i have to do is make sure you don’t reset after six months than i suppose i should stop being so lazy. i’ll help you on one condition, when you want to reset…” his eye pinpricks disappeared as he leaned towards you “DON’T.”

You nodded and he lead you outside, most people had gone home, underground there wasn’t really day and night cycles but it seemed that everyone still had a general bedtime. Sans walked to his place tugging you along, he stopped at the door and said “papyrus is probably making spaghetti, it’d help me out if you ate his food, you can sleep here tonight then we get a move on tomorrow.” You were about to ask what he meant when he said “i’m keeping an eye on you so you don’t reset things. sorry but i don’t exactly trust you right now.”

With that Sans opened the door calling out “hey bro we have a guest over for the night.”

Papyrus peeked his head out from the kitchen “HUMAN! I’M SO GLAD YOU COULD JOIN US! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM MAKING MY WORLD FAMOUS SPAGHETTI, I HOPE YOU’RE HUNGRY!”

He grinned enthusiastically and you couldn’t help but smile up at him mumbling “I’m starving.”

He was about to return to cooking when he paused his grinning fading a little as he asked “HUMAN, ARE YOU OKAY? YOU SEEM TO BE CRYING?”

You raised a hand touching your cheek still feeling them damp, you shook your head and said “It’s just tears of joy, I really look forward to your cooking.”

This cheered him up and he walked over to pat your head messing up your hair “THEN LUCKY FOR YOU THAT THIS IS MY SPECIAL SPAGHETTI! YOU CAN WAIT AT THE TABLE WITH SANS. I’VE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE SO HAPPY TO EAT MY COOKING BEFORE, AND YOU LOVE PUZZLES! THIS IS THE BEST!”

He turned long legs quickly bringing him back into the kitchen where you were certain his food was burning, you’d eat it anyway, you’d eat anything he hands you for the rest of your life. It’s the least you could do after what you’ve done.


	3. The First Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to the delay of leaving the ruins late small changes are becoming noticeable. Frisk has a nightmare that leaves them shaken. (CW: mild non-consent.)

You stood in a field of golden flowers, a soft breeze gently caressed against your skin, you weren't familiar with your surroundings, in every direction you looked all you saw were the bright glowing petals. You asked confused “Where am I?”

A familiar cold voice spoke from behind you “Hey Frisky, welcome back. You thought you could escape from me, didn't you? Poor little Frisky, get bored with killing everyone?”

A violent shiver ran through your spine as you turned your head to look behind you, barely whispering through your fear “Chara, you aren't in control. I'm free. I reset.”

Cold strong hands clutched your wrist pulling your arms behind your back and shoving you down suddenly, you found your face in the dirt, a whimper escaping you. As Chara leaned over you saying “Oh poor little Frisky, you think you're in control? It's only a matter of time.” A tongue pressed to your jaw and licked it's way up your cheek before it pulled away. Chara murmured against your ear “The clocks ticking, better hurry up Frisky.”

Your eyes flew open, feeling your arms tightly held against you in the dark, panic flared up inside of you, struggling against your unseen bindings you fell over and hit your head against the ground unable to catch yourself. You whimpered in pain unable to see what was holding you while your heart raced, still panicked from Chara gripping you.

The door to Papyrus's room flew open and the light was turned on, Sans stood over you as he'd teleported into the room. Both of them looked somewhat startled and confused, Sans eye was glowing and Papyrus was holding a summoned bone weapon. When they realizing you were the only one in the room Papyrus dropped his defenses first, coming to untangle you.

“HUMAN ARE YOU OKAY? I HEARD A LOUD CRASHING NOISE.” Papyrus knelt down and freed you from your blankets looking at your forehead where you were certain a bump was forming from hitting the floor face first. Without thinking you threw yourself at him a whine leaving you as you clutched his shoulder blades while you cried.

You missed the look of concern that passed between Papyrus to Sans but felt a set of finger bones ruffle your hair as Sans spoke soothingly “hey buddy you're okay, it's just me and paps here. it was probably just a bad dream.”

Sniffling you pulled back looking at Sans, he grimaced when he saw your face and you knew he had questions, but for now, he simply said “i'll sit out here till you can fall back to sleep. since papyrus usually starts his rounds about now.”

Papyrus glanced between you and Sans before saying “SANS MY PATROL CAN WAIT, THE HUMAN IS CLEARLY HURT AND IN NEED OF FRIENDSHIP.”

You wiped your eyes clearing away your tears, uncertain if they were more from the pain of your collision or from the panic you'd felt. It was as if Chara really had been there, you really didn't want to know though.

Forgetting for a moment that this Papyrus had only known you for a day instead of the year you remembered you kissed his cheekbone and mumbled “I'll be fine with Sans, I know your jobs important to you.”

Papyrus's cheekbones turned orange and his jaw dropped open as he quickly stood up moving to leave the house calling back “FEEL BETTER HUMAN!”

He closed the door so hard the house shook slightly and you realized what you'd done, squeaking “I forgot, you guys don't really know me!”

Turning to Sans, you saw his pinpricks had disappeared and his grin became tight and forced as he asked “what am i missing about your relationship with my brother?”

You cleared your throat and suddenly, even under all the blankets wrapped around you, felt very exposed. You turned red as you quickly explained in a squeaky voice “Well you see, we’re very close, more like, okay it's not that, oh that sounds terrible, me and him, well not just us, that sounds worse….. okay so in my timeline I've known you guys for about a year, we practically lived together, I'm very affectionate, and quiet, I don't like talking… I say as I'm rambling… I hold people's hand, kiss cheeks and foreheads, cuddle up, it's just silent forms of reassurance…..”

You trailed off uncertain if you'd made the situation worse by trying to explain that you weren't romantically involved with his brother. Sans was silent for a moment before his pinpricks flickered back and his smile loosened up “buddy you could of just said you're close friends.”

Sighing you smile at him tentatively. He moved to sit on the couch and then using his magic he lifted you setting you next to him, sitting quietly together before he spoke up “what did you dream about? couldn't have been good judging by that face you were making when you looked at me.”

Your shoulders tensed and the light atmosphere that he created a moment ago was gone, replaced with a heavy feeling in the air. He waited a moment for you to speak, when you didn't he held out his hand to you, you unclenched your fingers from holding onto the blanket to gripping his hand, raising an eyebrow at him, he shrugged “you said you don't like to talk, silent reassurance.”

You smiled at him thankful for his understanding, you took a few deep breaths to calm yourself then spoke in a trembling voice “I was in a field of flowers… I don't know if it was above or below ground, it was very dark. Then… Ch-Chara was there. They, they pushed me to the ground and… and told me my time was limited. They said… they said I'm not in control… a-and they…” you squeezed your eyes shut, trying not to think about the tongue on your cheek but not wanting to leave anything out “They stuck their tongue to my jaw and licked my face… while they held me down...”

It felt so perverse, too intimate, possessive, you hadn't liked the way you'd felt them gripping your wrist and holding you against the ground, all they'd done was lick you but it felt like far more. Like they'd left a mark on your very SOUL that wouldn't heal.

You barely heard Sans as he asked “are you okay? was that all they did? you don't have to tell me. squeeze my hand once if they stopped after that. twice if it went further.”

You squeezed your hand once and waited, he let out a sigh next to you then asked “are you okay with hugs?”

You looked at him tears starting to stream down your face as you climbed into his lap, curling into a ball and crying against his sternum, his hoodie was pulled open and he wrapped it around you as though shielding you from the world. Skeletal arms wrapped around you.

You don't know how long it had been but you stayed put crying against him, eventually drifting into a mostly dreamless sleep, a few broken up dreams pushed through, but you couldn't recall much beyond Sans and Papyrus's faces and warm hugs, the feeling of being protected.

Hours later you awoke to the sound of bustling in the kitchen, your eyes slowly peeked open and you heard Sans snoring near your ear. Feeling tightly compressed you blinked a few times and noticed you were held against Sans, your face buried in his clavicle, his hood was pulled up and the soft inner fur lining tickled your cheek. Your gaze shifted up to his face, studying him for a moment while your mind caught up to why you were sleeping on a Sans that barely knew you.

His eye peeked open and he grinned down at you lazily asking “feeling better pal?”

Blinking away your confusion you nodded silently, not ready to speak after being in such distress. You glanced towards the kitchen and Sans followed your eyes, he turned his head to the kitchen and called out “hey paps, when is lunch gonna be done?”

Papyrus stepped out of the kitchen in a pink frilly apron trying to whisper but still rather loud as he said “SHH SANS THE HUMAN IS TRYING TO REST. I DOUBT ALL THIS SLEEPING IS GOOD FOR THEM BUT I WANT THEM TO FEEL WELL RESTED.” Noticing your coherent state Papyrus nearly jumped for joy “OH H-H-HUMAN! I HOPE YOU ARE FEELING BETTER! H-HOW DO YOU FEEL?”

You smiled at Papyrus and spoke softly, your throat feeling a little dry “I’m a little thirsty, but I feel much better… Wait did you say lunch?”

Sans nodded and looked away from you seeming a little sheepish “i know you didn’t get any good sleep last night, so instead of heading out to go work, i slept in and let you get some shut-eye. before i knew it paps came home and started on lunch…”

You squinted looking through the blinds behind Sans, seeing it snowing quite heavily you sighed, shaking your head you stood up removing yourself from Sans hoodie and lap. Fixing your shorts and sweater you walked to the kitchen mumbling “I’ll have to head out tomorrow then, or wait till the storm clears up.” 

Before entering the kitchen you grabbed the chair from the table dragging it to the tall sink, you saw that Papyrus had returned to cooking turning slightly to watch you as he stirred his spaghetti. You reached into the cupboard without asking and pulled out a cup, stepping on to the chair so you could reach the sink getting some water. As you leaned against the counter drinking it you noticed Papyrus was staring up at you.

Setting your glass down you tilted your head asking “What? Did I do something wrong?”

Papyrus glanced towards the living room then asked “DID SANS SHOW YOU WHERE THE CUPS ARE? I DON’T BELIEVE YOU’VE SEEN THE KITCHEN BEFORE. YOU ALSO COULD OF ASKED FOR HELP INSTEAD OF DRAGGING THE CHAIR IN HERE.”

You nearly jumped at his question, freezing like a deer in headlights. Sans called from the living room before you could say anything “paps i showed them the kitchen last night after i tucked you in.”

Forcing your shoulders to relax you nodded your head and took another sip of your water, hoping that Papyrus wouldn’t question that too much. You felt relief wash over you as he grinned “WOWIE SANS, YOU SURE HAVE BEEN NICE TO THE HUMAN.”

Feeling safe in his lie, you chanced glancing at Papyrus, who was now looking contemplative as he stirred the pasta he was making. The room suddenly felt too small for you, as you noticed that together you both took up the majority of the open space. Setting your glass down in the sink you climbed off the chair taking a few steps past Papyrus.

You then realized you'd left the chair, not wanting to be rude you went back to retrieve.

Papyrus turned off the burner and then faced you saying “YOU AND MY BROTHER SEEM RATHER CLOSE. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS WONDERING IF HE HAS KNOWN YOU LONGER THAN HE IS TELLING ME. BUT SANS IS FAR TOO LAZY TO HIDE A HUMAN FROM ANYONE.”

You frowned up at him looking at his apprehensive face, and the way he wasn't meeting your gaze. Shaking your head you asked “Would it bother you if he's known me longer than I've known you?”

Papyrus blinked looking down at you he answered “NO, I WOULD NEVER BE BOTHERED BY SOMETHING SO SIMPLE. I MERELY… I-” he paused turning back to his burnt noodles remaining silent for a moment.

You set the chair back down and stepped closer to Papyrus. Reaching up while standing on your tippy toes so that you could place your hand on his shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze.

His eyes flicked down to you and an orange dusting of magic came to his cheeks as he finally continued “YOU ARE MY FIRST TRUE FRIEND. I KNOW THERE'S UNDYNE AND SHE’S REALLY COOL, BUT I DON'T THINK SHE THINKS OF ME AS HER FRIEND. MY BROTHER IS ALMOST AS COOL AS I AM, BUT HE DOESN'T LOVE PUZZLES AND SPAGHETTI. YOU UNDERSTAND MY HOBBIES, YOU ENJOY MY COOKING, YOU… ARE A HUMAN AND MORE THAN ANYTHING I BELIEVE IN YOU.” he didn't see the way you flinched when he said that, he simply continued “I HAVE THIS ODD FEELING LIKE I'VE KNOWN YOU BEFORE. I THINK WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE REALLY GOOD FRIENDS, AND EARLIER WHEN YOU WERE AFRAID YOU CLUNG TO ME, AS THOUGH I WAS THE ONLY THING HOLDING YOU TOGETHER, THEN YOU KISSED ME SAYING YOU'D BE FINE WITH MY BROTHER… IT FEELS LIKE… LIKE I'M MISSING SOMETHING AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT. IT'S A PUZZLE AND I DON'T HAVE ALL THE PIECES.”

You didn't know how to reply to all of that, your SOUL felt like it was being squeezed, you only just got here and you were already worrying Papyrus. The [RESET] button seemed to almost blindingly shine, as though tempting you to reset to your last save. But instead you smiled up at Papyrus saying “Bonehead, you're gonna make me cry some more if you say things like that. You're my friend Papyrus, so is Sans, I'm so happy to know you guys, it's only been a day though. So maybe you just feel a kinship with our shared interest? I'm sure in no time we'll be really good friends.”

Papyrus beamed at that “YOU'RE RIGHT HUMAN, I SUPPOSE IT'S ONLY FAIR THAT I FEEL SO ATTACHED SINCE I FINALLY KNOW SOMEONE WHO GETS MY HOBBIES. LUNCH IS DONE, GET SANS SO WE CAN EAT.”

Bringing the chair back to the table you saw that Sans was still sitting on the couch, lazily leaning back his pinpricks moved to follow you as you signaled a thumbs up to him, a silent thank you for his cover. You called out to him “Lunchtime, get up lazy bones.” 

He rolled his eyes lights at you, standing up he walked over to the table then slumped back down into a chair “can't wait to eat, feels like i haven't been fed in ages, my ribs are showing and everything.”

You grinned at him “Sleeping all day sure does work up an appetite. I've almost pasta way from hunger.”

He closed one of his eyes winking as he shrugged making another pun “butter not waste time then.”

Papyrus groaned as he started setting plates down for each of you. He took his own seat saying “IT'S TIME FOR SPAGHETTI, MAKE JOKES WHEN IT'S NOT MEAL TIME.”

You took a bite of the burnt mess, waiting a moment for Papyrus to start enjoying his meal before you said “I hope we haven't gone to far that you're upset with us, everything pici?”

You heard Sans snicker but Papyrus replied “I'M NOT CERTAIN WHAT YOU JUST SAID BUT I AM CERTAIN IT WAS A PUN. WHAT IS PEACHY?”

You quirked an eyebrow then remembered that this Papyrus didn't know about the different surface pastas yet. Smiling you informed him “Pici is a type of pasta, like a spaghetti noodle but thicker.”

Papyrus's jaw dropped open “THERE'S MORE PASTA?”

The next hour was spent explaining the different types of pasta there were, the more you the more you mentioned the more Papyrus had questions. Sans would occasionally make a pun with each new pasta name. Papyrus would roll his eyes but was mainly focused on listening to you. As you finished lunch together Papyrus collected the dishes, as you were about to wander back to the couch a knock sounded at the door.

Sans teleported over and answered it “afternoon, Undyne, what can i do for you?”

Panic alarms in your head instantly started going off, this wasn't normal, why would Undyne be here? She doesn't come here until after you burn her house down making food together. You sprinted across the living room and dived behind the couches side.

Undyne spoke tensely “I got the strangest phone call a moment ago, didn't recognize the number but they said they spotted a human, said they thought it may have been hiding here.”

Sans stepped aside showing the living room and kitchen to her “nope just me and paps here.”

Undyne looked past Sans glancing around the room “Strange, if you hear anything let me know. They sounded pretty certain.”

Sans nodded “no flesh off my back, though i haven't mettaton of humans. so i might have a hard time identifying one.”

Undyne groaned “Yeah yeah, tell me if you see one. I'm going back out on patrol in case it's hiding in the area. Can't be too safe.”

With that, she left as quick as she came. You peeked over the side of the couch and saw Sans turn to look at you. Papyrus called from the kitchen “SANS WHO WAS AT THE DOOR? I COULDN'T HEAR THEN OVER THE DISHES.”

Sans called back “undyne stopped by, she's patrolling the area for humans.”

Papyrus quickly came into the living room “UNDYNE IS PATROLLING SNOWDIN? SHE NEVER PATROLS BEYOND WATERFALL, WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

Sans shrugged “told her it's just us here, and that i might not know what a human looks like since I haven't seen one in so long. i don't think we can sneak the kids past her currently.”

They both turned to look at you Papyrus looking nervous. You smiled and gave him a thumbs up “I'll be fine, I'm certain if she finds me we'll be able to talk it out and become friends.”

Papyrus smiled back at you “I BELIEVE IN YOU HUMAN, IF YOU CAN BECOME FRIENDS WITH I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THEN YOU CAN BE ANYONE'S FRIENDS.”

You glanced outside seeing the snow was still coming down quite hard “I don't think she should be out in this cold, maybe one of you should invite her inside?”

Sans shrugged “you certain she should be in the same house as you while she's currently trying to hunt you down?”

You nodded “I can hide in one of your rooms while she's here.”

Papyrus headed towards the door moving part Sans as he called back “I'LL GO GET HER NOW THEN.”

Once the door was closed Sans walked over to you then or his hand on your shoulder and short cut into his room, the light was off so it seemed like pitch blackness then you heard him shuffle around the room and a light turned on showing you his messy room, a tornado of trash in one corner, a pile of blankets and sheets wadded together on his bed, a dresser with a lamp on it and a treadmill in the center, socks littered the floor and you briefly questioned if the only article of clothing he changed was his socks…

Turning towards his door you saw him leaving against it effectively blocking the only entrance, or in this case exit. His eye lights had disappeared as he asked “Why does Undyne know you're here?”

You shrugged “I don't know, I normally arrive about a week earlier than this, since Tori- since the lady in the ruins didn't want me to leave I felt I owed her more of my time. So I stayed longer… I'm not used to there being a storm going on here since I've usually made it to Waterfall by now, Undyne becomes my friend after I refuse to fight her, you briefly distract her in Hotland giving me time to get ahead of her. I'm unfamiliar with these events…”

He thought over what you said then asked “at grillby's you mentioned someone who could remember the timelines, would they have told her?”

You thought over how Flowey had been acting, this could be him trying to provoke you into having to fight, you had reset after defeating Sans so you weren't certain what Flowey had done after scaring him in Asgore's home.

As you thought it over you heard the front door open loudly as Undyne shouted “It's freezing out, thanks for inviting me in Papyrus!”

You ignored their excited shouting and whispered to Sans “It could be them, they seemed angry last time I saw them… they called me pathetic for not finishing what I started like Chara would have…”

Sans moved closer to you looking down at your face he asked “how do you know chara? they've been dead for years.”

You shivered but stayed where you were staring up into his empty sockets. “When I arrived in the underground I landed in a patch of flowers, I had fallen from pretty high up and had been knocked unconscious from the fall. When I awoke I was a bit dazed and confused, my head hurt. It wasn’t until after we managed to make it above ground that it started… At first it was just a feeling, like I’d left something behind, skipped something, did something wrong. I’m not certain how to describe it, but it was like a part of me was trying to pull me back to when I’d first fallen. I saw the Reset button… but it was more than that, this time it said True Reset. So this wouldn’t be taking me back to when I last… Saved? I’m not sure how else to describe it. There’s different points in the underground that shine and I can touch them, then if… when I die I simply return to when I had touched it. I don’t think anyone can see them but me and Flowey… I don’t recall much from before coming to the underground so I couldn’t tell you if other humans have ever seen them before. I haven’t seen many of these save points above ground. I’m getting off topic, I… I talked to you before I had pressed it… You weren’t too happy with the idea of me resetting, but told me if it would result in something better, and that I was certain it needed to happen then so long as I promised to make sure everyone got above ground and was happy like they were…” You trailed off unable to put into words how after resetting you hadn’t stuck to that promise, you were worse than just a liar though, you were also a killer.

Sans’s eye lights were gone and he leaned forward harshly muttering “go on i can tell by the face you’re making it wasn’t what you wanted to do but i’m not gonna comfort you over your actions. not now.”

You nodded understanding him, though would try to remember to ask him about earlier after telling him what he wanted to know. Taking a steadying breathe you continued “When I awoke in the flowers, I proceeded as normal but it was like my body was moving on its own, automatically going through the motions until… First I killed the Dummy, then… Then I killed Froggit… And I just… I wouldn’t stop, I couldn’t. Then… Then mom and and then-” you sniffled starting to cry but covered your face trying to muffle yourself so that Undyne and Papyrus wouldn’t hear you. “I killed everyone and just before I reached you I saw in the mirror at Asgore’s house a face that looked close to mine but their eyes were bright red, and I heard someone say ‘It’s me, Chara.’ when I… When I spared you the first time I could hear them screaming at me, ‘that was pathetic’ or other angry things, I still broke through enough to spare you again… though you still killed me each time. I think even then you knew I could reset, you didn’t say so, but you said ‘if we’re really friends you won’t come back.’ I I hurt you so much Sans. I can never do enough to make it up to any of you. I’m the worst person to exist. I killed all my friends and family, and I still didn’t find what I feel like I forgot, as if it’s even important? I’m just a murderer and every time I see someone so happy to see me all I can think of is how I can feel the dust on my hands, and I remember what they said last. Papyrus… he he believed in me, and I failed him.”

Sans hands were buried deep in his pockets as he stepped back and turned away from you “you said you tried to spare me?”

You wiped at your tears and murmured “I did.”

Sans muttered something then said “how many times did you try before you killed me?”

You thought for a moment squeezing your hands trying to ground yourself as you remembered each death in the hall, shaking as you said “I lost track but over one hundred.”

He was silent for a moment and the sounds from Papyrus and Undyne shouting in the living room at the TV was so loud you almost didn’t hear his reply “i don’t forgive you, but i won’t punish you for what you’ve done. i’ll help you get through the underground, but only so long as you continue to keep your word. what you promised me in that previous timeline. we find what you missed if we have to, but we do get everyone out of the underground and have their happily ever after. got it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like to Beta, and maybe kick my ass when I'm not writing you can reach me on Tumblr at EscapingPaperWeights I also love hearing from readers and enjoy any criticism you might have for me so feel free to message me or leave a review.


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